“Of course it is! I’ve drafted a body of men who can be trusted not to rush us madly into this damnable mess. That’s our real, our best possible defense—to keep at peace.”
“Very pretty sophistry! How far do you think it would go with a real American? Harvey Rappelje, for instance?”
The Governor’s eager face darkened. “That crazy fool!” he blurted out. “Who could have foreseen that he’d break over!”
“He did what each of us ought to have done in his turn.”
“Don’t say that, Jem!” implored the other. “I’m about beside myself over this Rappelje business now.”
“Afraid?” Jeremy looked at him curiously.
“Of his mad-dog threat? No.”
“Yet the boys at Old Central would follow him in anything. Curious that such a type should take hold on the youngsters’ imagination, isn’t it? It’s the fire at the heart of him, I suppose.”
“The maggot in his brain!” returned the other fiercely. “He’s crazy enough to try his mob scheme.”
“If he tries, he’ll carry it through.”